Since November 8, 2009, the Florida Turnpike has been switching over to a cashless toll system or ‘Toll-by-Plate’ system. The new toll way system uses high-speed and high-resolution cameras to capture a picture of the vehicle’s license plate and then sends a bill to the registered owner for the toll amount. The conversion began on a 26 mile stretch in Miami-Dade County and tollbooth removal is expected to be completed by February of 2011.

Truck drivers and their carriers, not to mention regular drivers, are excited about the Toll-by-Plate system because it means they can coast through the area without waiting in traffic that gets backed up by people stopping to pay tolls. The conversion to a cashless system will likely save truck drivers a considerable amount of time, money, and fuel since they will no longer have to stop in the 26 mile section of Miami-Dade County.

One has to wonder if there are going to be any bugs in the system that need to be worked out before all vehicles are running smoothly on the turnpike. When a system is automated, it can save the state money. The cost of the tollbooth operator salaries’ alone will be a substantial savings. But will that savings in salaries end up costing the county more in administrative costs?

What happens when the camera shoots a picture of a license plate that is obscured by a cover? Can the system read it properly to ensure that the bill is sent to the right person? What about people who unlawfully try to obscure their license plate or worse remove it through the tolls? Will the county have to have extra patrols on the road to make sure that drivers aren’t unlawfully removing or hiding their plates? It would be wonderful if traffic could flow more smoothly, but if plates are being misread or not read at all, revenue could actually be lost in lost tolls and increased administrative costs due to fixing errors when plates are misread.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the new system, and hope that the Florida DOT has considered these questions and are able to prevent the abuses of the system. But this could be an unbelievable breakthrough for truck drivers, trucking carriers, & the trucking industry in general, so I hope it all works out & other states follow the same path.

Only time will tell with regard to these questions but it will certainly be interesting to see how the new Toll-by-Plate system works. Once the bugs are out of the new system the drive through the Florida Turnpike could become a pleasure rather than a pain. What do you think about this new cashless toll system? Think it will work?